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Now free from the shackles of of Sony, VAIO have released their very first smartphone as an independent company. Launching in Japan on March 20, the VAIO Phone is endowed with a five-inch display, Android 5.0, 13-megapixel camera, two gigs of RAM and a 1.2GHz processor. VAIO is calling its glossy, curved style “simple and stylish” and is set to priced at a not-so-appealing $420 USD.

Critics have also pointed out that the VAIO Phone bears a striking resemblance to Panasonic‘s Eluga U2, which is available for a fraction of its clone’s price.

With nearly all of today’s graphic, comic, and animation design work being digital, any serious artist needs a graphic tablet. These are large LCD screens that can be drawn on directly with a stylus allowing for easy uploading and computer editing of the created image.

Like most electronics chains in Japan, Yodobashi Camera has sections of its stores where customers can try out the latest products, graphic tablets included. Most of us would probably be content to scribble a few lines, doodle a stick figure, or maybe add a splash of color. But like finding a novel filled with dozens of fleshed-out characters and a gripping narrative left on Word in the laptop section, seriously talented artists have been creating true works of art on Yodobashi’s graphic tablet floor samples.

Aside from Japanese Twitter users sharing their discoveries, the artists themselves sometimes use the social networking site to showcase their newest works. Some pictures are even created by a person first sketching an outline, then another visitor to the store adding color or effects.

As expected, Yodobashi’s branch in Akihabara, the center of the anime scene, provided an example:As did the chain’s sprawling complex in Shinjuku:Many of the creations feature popular anime and manga comic characters, such as this one of the heroine from Haiyore! Nyaruko-san.This drawing featuring a character from the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures franchise was so popular with customers that workers at the store left it undisturbed for two whole months.One artist went so far as to create a series of tuna-themed images, showing the fish in several states, including “natural”:terrifying:delicious:and finally delicious and terrified, as it screams, “I don’t want to die!”

The artist was eventually asked by salespeople to stop, although whether it was because his drawings were frightening the other customers or causing them to drool on the tablets’ glass screens is unclear.

Once revered for its high-fidelity home audio systems before being rebranded under the Panasonic umbrella, Technics is slated to make its anticipated return to the market next year. To kick off this welcomed resurrection, the Japanese brand will introduced two lines: a high-end reference audio line and a new premium line.

The first, the R1 series, is a flagship line of Technics that includes a stereo amplifier with their JENO (Jitter Elimination and Noise-shaping Optimization) digital engine, a noise-minimizing Network Audio Control Player, and its floorstanding SB-R1 speakers. Its premium series, the C700, will also feature a similar, albeit better three-part collection, in addition to a CD player. For a closer look at its forthcoming releases, visit Technics.com.

With a growing trend of users capturing everyday action and sports through a first-person perspective, Japanese electronics company Ricoh adds to the trend with the WG-M1. Designed by revered engineers from camera and optics label, Pentax, the WG-M1 is packed with full HD film capabilities, 14-megapixel stills, built-in WiFi, a waterproof exterior for up to 30 feet, and an LCD display screen.

Priced at $300 USD, the Ricoh WG-M1 is set to makes its way to shelves in October.

The only camera to go to the moon and back has recently gone under the hammer at Galerie Westlicht in Vienna and was given to the highest bid of €660,000 (US$910,000) to one Terukazu Fujisawa, the president of Japanese electronics chain Yodobashi Camera.

Fujisawa’s new camera is a Hasselblad 500 and went on the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. They were selected because of the ease with which lenses and film could be changed by the astronauts in their space suits and the harsh landscape of the lunar surface. Although several cameras were taken to the moon, this was the only one that made it back as all others were abandoned on the moon to save weight.

Some American readers of this news were a little upset that a Japanese businessman bought up another piece of American history (the other most recent acquisition being Colonel Sanders’ suit). Others who weren’t trapped in the 80s were puzzled as to who owned the camera previously as such an artifact would seem to belong somewhere like the Smithsonian and NASA is generally very protective about what comes back from their missions. This led to the age-old theory that the moon landings were all elaborate hoaxes.

The auctioneers originally expected the camera to sell for €300,000 ($414,000), but the camera unexpectedly sold for over double the projected amount. It remains to be seen what Mr. Fujisawa intends to do with his new purchase. Judging by his line of work he’ll probably keep it in his own private collection, but perhaps he will put it on display at a Yodobashi Camera shop somewhere in Japan.

In a recent promotion, the AAPE by A Bathing Ape is giving away a special power adapter to those who spend ￥20,000 or more at select locations. The stylish camouflage power adapter is equipped with multiple USB charging ports, a digital camera charger, mobile phone, and iPod/iPad port, and is compatible with power outlets in a number of different countries.

The adapter is only available in limited quantities so pick up yours with a minimum purchase of ￥20,000 today at A Bathing Ape locations.